


Unintended

by storming_wolf



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Actor Dan Howell, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Filming, M/M, Model Dan Howell, Secret Relationship, Writer Phil Lester, director phil lester
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 22:17:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7407310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storming_wolf/pseuds/storming_wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan Howell is a model ready to start a career in acting. Phil Lester is a director ready to show he's more than capable of creating a serious drama film. After an interview Dan does sparks a muse in Phil's script, Phil casts Dan to play leading man. However, they start to develop feelings for each other and try to push their relationship aside for the sake of the movie and Academy Award season, but how far can they push it before it falls apart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unintended

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my phan magazine edit (http://goo.gl/nCyW5v)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My very first legit phanfic whoa. Basically I've been spiraling back into Phan hell ever since TATINOF while also suffering from some killer insomnia (I've been up for the past 40 hours) and a fanfic was born.
> 
> So, I don't know much about how actual Hollywood works but this is fiction after all so don't think this is accurate to actual film production.

It was just another day at work.

Dan had on a suave leather jacket, collar popped, with his hair slicked back like he was auditioning to be in Arctic Monkeys. He had his fingers running through his hair as he gave the camera a coy smile.

“These are great Dan,” the editor said. “Can we get him in the suit?” Dan was whisked away to wardrobe, handed another suit that he changed into in record time before sitting in the makeup chair. The artist fluffed his fringe and touched up his makeup before he was back in front of the camera for some final poses.

“That’s a wrap!” the photographer announced. “Great working with you as always Dan.”

“You too Pierre,” Dan said to the photographer as he took off the suit jacket. The editor walked over to him. 

“Wonderful work Dan. Would you mind staying back a bit for a quick interview?” she asked.  


“Not at all,” Dan said with a smile, when actuality he wanted nothing more than to fly back to London and take a nap. Fashion week was finally over but of course his manager insisted he stay back for a million photoshoots. He followed the editor to a conference room, where a very nervous looking girl was waiting with her Macbook.  


“So Dan, you’ve taken the fashion industry by storm with a story straight from the movies. You were discovered at a bus stop in London, how did it come from that?”  


“I was quite skeptical at first, I honestly thought it was a fake scam or something, but when I got home and looked up the agency I was in shock. I had always grown up with a low self esteem and often got bullied, so I was definitely apprehensive about starting a career in modeling. But I had just decided to stop going to uni for the time being, and I had a lot of convincing from my family,” Dan explained, watching the girl on the laptop capture every word in lighting speed.  


“It's a great thing they did, you got your spread with Calvin Klein that fall,” the interviewer said. Dan hated that part of interviews where the interviewer constantly told him things about his own career. He was sure it was just fillers for the article, but it never got tiring hearing it over and over. “Now that fashion week is over, what’s next for your career?”  


“I’ve been really thinking about acting,” Dan said. “I used to do drama in secondary school, and I was always really passionate about it.”  


“And we’d love to see even more of you! Have you put any thought into what kind of films?” she asked.  


“Oh, definitely something like Phil Lester’s work. I loved watching his early films in uni, and it’d be an honour to act under him,” Dan said with a smile. The interview went on, asking about Dan’s signature all-black aesthetic, his love life, and so on. Once he was finally done, he got a few seconds to relax as he was driven from the shoot to the airport.

The flight back to London was barely an hour, but it gave Dan a chance to relax. He of course didn’t regret becoming a model, it beat being an unhappy law student working at Tesco, but sometimes he hated how repetitive it was. Model for this line, do this show, answer the same interview questions for the thousandth time. It's why he wanted to do acting. It was very similar, but at least there was the excitement of having to become a completely different person every time you did a movie. Dan much rather preferred that than ‘look pouty for the millionth time’.

He, of course, was a great model. He was praised for his expressiveness and boyish charm. But Dan wanted to do something more, he wanted to be more than the face of this insert expensive brand’s line.  


Dan hoped that his manager could get something worked out soon.  


* * *

Phil Lester looked at his notebook, glasses on while he bit on a pen. He was bouncing his leg as he read over the plot he had written.

The idea had hit him while he was at a Muse concert a few weeks ago, and after doing research, he finally had a plot outline. Phil could feel it was the start of something amazing. It was raw and emotional, and reminded him of the more serious stuff he had written in his teen years.

Electing to take a break before diving into the actual script, Phil logged into Twitter, sending out a tweet that read “Working on something new ;)”

As the replies came in, he noticed one say “you should put @danhowell in it” followed by a link. Curious, Phil clicked on the link and read Dan’s interview. 

“Wow, he thinks my films are that good?” Phil asked. Of course he knew his films were good, the academy awards proved it to him, but he always felt as if he wasn't good enough and needed constant reassurance that he was creating things that he and other people loved.

Phil did a search of Dan, looking at his modelling work. He was in awe with how much emotion Dan was able to give off in simple photographs. You could look in his eyes in one picture and see the life of a sad, nostalgic boy who had lost someone dearly, but in another image the same eyes read the life of a boy who was happily in love with his childhood sweetheart.

Phil couldn't believe Dan could get his poses so perfect down to the way his eyes looked. There were obviously no sound in the pictures, but you can almost hear how he would sound as if there was, just by the way he looked.

“Kind of like Rhyn…” Phil pondered, thinking of the concept character he had just created. Rhyn was going to be a hard character to portray, because for a good portion of the movie he wouldn't be speaking. 

As Phil went on writing and editing the script over the next few months, he found himself going back to Dan’s pictures and imagining Rhyn as him. By time Phil was sat down with the script with his crew, he wanted no one else for the role.

“This is incredible, Phil,” PJ said. He was Phil's co-director and longtime friend. “I'll get in touch with Troye, I think he'll put together a great soundtrack once this is done.”

“I've got space reserved at the studio starting in 3 months,” Phil said, looking over his work like a proud father.

“I'll start setting up auditions next week,” Chris said. “I think Dylan O’Brien would make a good fit for the lead.”

“No,” Phil said quickly. Phil didn't usually object Chris’ casting ideas, so everyone was kind of shocked. “I actually wrote this with someone in mind. Have you guys heard of Dan Howell?”

“No?” Chris asked more than said.

“He's a male model,” Phil said. 

“Why are you writing scripts thinking about male models mate?” PJ snorted, to which Phil playfully punched him.

“Take a look at his pictures,” Phil said, pulling out his iPad. “He captures so much emotion without words. We need someone who's a master at doing that for when Rhyn can't speak.”

“He is really good, but can he even act?” Chris asked.

“I read up on him, he used to do drama in secondary school, and he's been in a few music videos. I know it's not proof, but bring him in for an audition? Please? I just want to give him a chance,” Phil said.

“It's a risk. But I trust your vision,” Chris said. Phil smiled at his friends. 

“Well, let’s go create a masterpiece,” Phil said.

* * *

Dan was sitting on his couch, a face mask on as he enjoyed tea and watched Death Note. Just because he was a “fashion icon”, didn’t mean he wasn’t still a giant nerd at heart.

Right as he started his favourite episode, his phone went off. It was his agent.

“Hey Miya,” Dan answered.

“Clear your schedule for tomorrow, you have an audition,” Miya said before Dan could fully get his sentence out. 

“What brand? My skin is all red and gross right now,” Dan sighed. He was counting on his schedule being free this week, so he had been slacking on his skin care.

“No, a movie audition. I just emailed you the script. The director requested you specifically for this role,” Miya said. Dan furrowed his eyebrows as he grabbed his Macbook, opening the latest email from Miya. He looked at the script and felt like his heart burst out of his chest.

“This is a prank right? I’m being punked, yeah?” Dan said, in shock.

“Nope, Chris Kendall said Phil Lester specifically said you,” Miya said. “The audition is at two. Work on it tonight, yeah? This is your chance to start your acting career. Ciao, love.”

Dan looked at the script. In the scene, he was having a conversation with Grace. He didn’t have anyone to rehearse with, so he put Grace’s lines into a text-to voice reader and spent all day working on the lines. By time he was in the cab on his way to the audition, he was saying the lines as if they were his name and address.

Dan was nervous. His last acting audition was when he was 17, and he didn’t even have a major role. He took deep breathes as he walked into the room. He recognized Phil, PJ, and Chris immediately before seeing Louise Pentland sitting off to the side.

“Hi, I’m Dan,” Dan was trying to sound confident. He was able to walk half naked in front of hundreds of people and cameras, but standing there in front of 4 people, he felt like the same nervous person he was when he first posed in his boxers at 19.

Phil stood up and walked over to Dan, shaking his hand.

“I’m Phil,” Phil introduced, leading Dan over to the table where he, PJ, and Chris were set up. “This is PJ, he’s my co-director, and this is Chris, our casting director.”

Dan shook hands with each of them, before Phil introduced him to Louise.

“And this is Louise. She’s going to be Grace. We need a few minutes to make sure we have everything set up, so you can chat with Louise about the script for a bit. Do you have any questions?” Phil asked.  


“Nope, I think I’m good,” Dan said with a smile. Phil smiled back at him before going back to the camera. Dan walked over to Louise with his hand extended.  


“Nice to meet you,” he said as he shook her hand.  


“It’s nice to meet you too. I absolutely loved your spread in Vogue last month,” Louise said. Dan smiled shyly.

“Thanks, that means a lot. I had the flu when we did that shoot and I absolutely thought I was going to die during the shoot,” Dan joked. Louise laughed a bit before turning her attention to the script. 

“So the scene is surrounded around you playing piano. Do you know how to play?” Louise asked.

“I used to, but I was probably average to poor when I did, but I’ll try to do something believable for the scene,” Dan chuckled. 

“We’re ready when you are,” Chris said. Phil was standing behind the camera facing the piano, while PJ was behind the one to the side of them. Dan sat at the piano while Louise stood to the side off camera. 

“Action,” Phil said. Dan sat at the piano and started playing The Nightmare Begins from Final Fantasy VII. As he played, he waited for Louise to come in with her first line. When it was longer than 30 seconds, he turned to see her in shock.

“That’s average to poor?” She asked in shock. He stopped playing when Phil said cut, sounding just as shocked as Louise.

“That’s from Final Fantasy VII?” Phil asked.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “I-I can play something else?”

“That’s perfect Dan. I had no idea you were so good,” Phil said. “Uh, go ahead and start again. Action.”

Dan played again, getting lost in the music as he felt Rhyn would. He took soft breaths, slowly moving with the music. 

“That’s so beautiful,” Louise said, putting a hand on Dan’s shoulder. Dan gasped, hitting a wrong note. He laughed softly, looking up at Louise.

“You scared me Gracie,” Dan said.

“Sorry, your mum let me in,” Louise said, sitting next to Dan on the piano bench. “Play for me?”

“Of course sweetheart,” Dan said, turning to the piano. He started playing Unintended by Muse. “You could be my unintended Choice to live my life extended You could be the one I'll always love.” Dan sang slightly off tune while looking into Louise’s eyes. He and Louise laughed like a young couple in love. Dan slowly took his fingers off the piano.  


“Why’d you stop?” Louise asked.  


“I think my singing should be banned in the whole European Union,” Dan chuckled. Louise laughed with him. “But I stopped because I had to tell you something.” Louise’s smile slightly faded as she looked at him with all seriousness.  


“I got a phone call the other day, and I got an audition for the Paris Opera’s Orchestra,” Dan said.  


“That’s fantastic love!” Louise said. When she noticed Dan didn’t smile, her smile faded. “That is good, yeah?”  


“If I get it, I’d have to move,” Dan said. “I can’t stay in Manchester if I get the job.”  


“You’ll have to move to Paris?” Louise asked, sounding sad.  


“Or London, if I just make trips every night to Paris,” Dan said.  


“But that’s really unrealistic,” Louise said. She put her hand on his shoulder. “You know I want you to do it, right? You have an amazing talent, and it’s been your dream since we were kids.”  


“But what about you?” Dan said. “You’ve been my dream since we were kids.” Louise leaned up and kissed him.  


“We’ll make it work, love. I promise,” Louise said. Dan smiled before turning back to the piano and playing again.  


“Cut,” Phil said. Everyone clapped.  


“That was amazing,” Louise said. Dan blushed slightly.  


“That was exactly how I pictured it,” Phil said. “What do you guys think?” Chris nodded, as well as PJ.  


“Welcome to the movie, Rhyn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my friends in the Chicago TATINOF GC who convinced me to write this


End file.
